So I was watching this show called "My Strange Addiction" on Discovery Health with my wife yesterday. It featured a gal that eats chalk, a tanning addict, a shopaholic, and a guy named Tony who is "addicted" to running.
By addicted, they mean that he runs 100 miles per week. The show chronicaled his quest to complete a local 100 mile race, which he finished with a time of 26 hours, 26 minutes. At the end of the show, they update that he just ran 4 marathons in 4 days, and that his girlfriend left him (btw, although his girlfriend crewed the 100, she was less than supportive about the experience). They also had a doctor on the show that talked about how running for ultra distances is (not can be...IS) dangerous and will lead to conditions such as kidney failure.
Is it just me, or is this guy's behavior NOT addictive? I mean, 100 mile weeks are pretty standard fare for anyone training for an ultra. The guy looked pretty healthy. He wasn't an Anton Krupicka look-a-like or anything. And they never reported that he had any health problems associated with his training.
Is the general public, including the medical community, really that out of touch with human capabilities that we think that this kind of running is dangerous? Because if training for and running an 100 is addictive, I guess we need to sign a lot of our members up for therapy. And in that case, I'd rather be crazy...
By addicted, they mean that he runs 100 miles per week. The show chronicaled his quest to complete a local 100 mile race, which he finished with a time of 26 hours, 26 minutes. At the end of the show, they update that he just ran 4 marathons in 4 days, and that his girlfriend left him (btw, although his girlfriend crewed the 100, she was less than supportive about the experience). They also had a doctor on the show that talked about how running for ultra distances is (not can be...IS) dangerous and will lead to conditions such as kidney failure.
Is it just me, or is this guy's behavior NOT addictive? I mean, 100 mile weeks are pretty standard fare for anyone training for an ultra. The guy looked pretty healthy. He wasn't an Anton Krupicka look-a-like or anything. And they never reported that he had any health problems associated with his training.
Is the general public, including the medical community, really that out of touch with human capabilities that we think that this kind of running is dangerous? Because if training for and running an 100 is addictive, I guess we need to sign a lot of our members up for therapy. And in that case, I'd rather be crazy...